Genital Portrait Studio: The Five Silliest Burning Man Camp Names

Burning Man 2012 kicks off on Monday, and unlike our intrepid colleague Nicholas, we are headed to the Playa and looking forward to it. In fact Jack Rabbit, the festival's official newsletter, has been hitting our inbox since February, informing the nearly 70,000 of us from around the world "heading home" to this temporary city in Nevada's Black Rock desert about ticketing, healthy and safety, proper laser protocol.

Theme camps are a fundamental component of Burning Man, as they provide flavor, fun and places to hang out when it's 111 degrees and you can't remember out where your RV is parked. Groups from around the world apply to erect camps, and guidelines require that such installations must be visually stimulating and include activities, events or services to the Burning Man community. (Including yoga, booze, drumming, meditation, coffee and, of course, music.) That's all well and good, but many of these camps have downright ridiculous names and themes: Here are the five silliest that we know about.

This one is fun to say, and promises "a collection of intentional communities bringing the spirit of collective hospitality to the playa! We welcome you to join us in celebrating fertility and the universal ability to create abundant lives!" We don't actually know exactly what that means! Sounds great though!

Denizens of Williamsburg, the Mission and Silver Lake will converge on this San Francisco-based camp, where hipster burners can free their pale asses from the confines of their skinny leg jeans and "enjoy items gifted from other camps." We think this means that hipsters are generally broke, though Burning Man costs an arm and two legs.

#1 Genital Portrait Studio

Also based out of San Francisco, the Genital Portrait Studio will be staffed with "highly trained photographers [offering] you the opportunity to capture that special side of yourself in the privacy of our playa studio." Photo shoots may include various "props and positions" and attendees can walk away with a custom made genital ID card, which is not only the perfect memento to share with friends and family back home but gets you a discount at Coffee Bean.